2002-03 Men's Basketball

bc hosts au

Bluffton to host Anderson Saturday aiming to end Raven winning streak over Beavers

Setting the sceneBluffton has won three of their last five HCAC games and had a mid-week bye this week.
Anderson, which had a bye last Saturday, had dropped three straight HCAC games before
taking a 70-65 win over Manchester Wed. night. These two teams met at Anderson on
Jan. 11 with the Ravens pulling out an 89-87 win. Following Saturday's game, both
these teams have three remaining HCAC contests before the league tournament begins
on Feb. 25.

The series (AU leads 33-17)Anderson leads the all-time series against Bluffton 33-17, which dates back to the
1967-68 season. Anderson has won the last four meetings in this series and has tallied
a 16-8 record against the Beavers when playing in Founders Hall.

The coachesBluffton is led by 14th-year head coach Guy Neal, who ranks second on the BC all-time
wins list with 144 victories. Neal is closing in on leader Glenn Snyder, who won 150
games between 1968-85. Neal's six winning seasons are second only to Hall of Famer
A.C. Burcky's total of seven. Anderson is led by 10th-year head coach Denny Lehnus,
who has the Ravens on pace for their fifth straight winning season. A 1963 AU grad,
Lehnus compiled a 548-115 record in 19 seasons at Kankakee Community College in Ill.
prior to returning to his alma mater and was inducted into the National Junior College
Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1992.

Season recordsBluffton has won three of their last five games to improve its record to 9-11 overall
and 3-7 in the HCAC. The Beavers are 5-5 at home this season. Anderson, which is now
14-6 overall and 7-3 in the HCAC, won 10-of-11 games from the beginning of December
through the third week in January, but the Ravens then dropped three straight games,
all in the HCAC, before topping Manchester Wed. night 70-65.

Last gameBluffton is coming off a 79-76 win at Mount St. Joseph last Saturday as the Beavers
shot over 57% from 3-point range and overcame a 12-point first half deficit to win
for the first time in five trips to the Harrington Center. Marcus Bixler scored 14
points in the second half and ended the game with a team-high 19 points as he was
a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range to lead the Beavers, which made 12-of-21 shots
from trey land and forced 19 Lion turnovers. Mike Leimeister added 16 points and a
game-high nine rebounds, and Scott Bergman scored 14 points. Derek DeNero chipped
in 11 points and freshman Darren Clark, who took a key charge with 24 seconds left
in the game, finished with eight points.

Anderson snapped a three-game losing skid with a 70-65 home win over Manchester Wed.
night. Manchester got off to a quick start, building a 28-18 lead at the 8:45 mark
in the first half, before AU battled back to tie the score at 32-32 tie at the half.
The Ravens then went on a 16-5 run early in the second half to go up 48-39 at the
12 minute mark and didn't trail the rest of the way. Anderson was 18-for-25 from the
free throw line, while the visiting Spartans were just 1-for-4. Erik Chapman led the
Ravens with 17 points.

Earlier this seasonBluffton out-rebounded Anderson University 39-33 and shot over 14 percentage points
better from the field, but the Beavers fell 89-87 at AU on Jan. 11. Marcus Bixler
led all scorers with a career-high 20 points, while Derek DeNero added 17 points as
both players tied for game-high rebounding honors with seven. Brad Boyles scored 12
points in the second half to end the game with 16. Mike Leimeister, playing at less
than 100% due to an ankle injury, was held 10 points under his season average as he
finished with 14 points. Anderson attempted 32 3-pointers, the most of any BC opponent
this season, but made just eight of them, however three of those treys came all in
a row during a one-minute span midway through the second half to stay in the game
at a juncture when Bluffton made 10-of-13 shots to take a five-point lead. Bluffton
took their biggest lead of the game at 60-55 with 11:40 left to play but a 13-5 Anderson
run at that point gave the lead back to the Ravens at 68-55 with 9:16 remaining. Anderson
would hold that lead until Leimeister hit a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to tie
the score at 86-86. BC had just one field goal attempt the rest of the way, however,
and AU connected on 3-of-4 foul shots to take the win. Bluffton's 20 turnovers in
that game are the most against any HCAC foe this season, and the Beavers had just
two steals to mark their current season low.

Last seasonAnderson won both games against Bluffton last season as the Ravens won 84-77 here
in Founders Hall and 100-78 on their home court. In the game in Bluffton, BC took
a 45-32 rebounding edge and shot 88.9% from the free throw line, but the Ravens forced
24 BC turnovers. In the game at Anderson, a 19-0 scoring run by the Ravens early in
the second half was too much for Bluffton to overcome as Gaga Ghebremichael scored
19 points. Bluffton's Derek DeNero scored 19 points in both games against the Ravens.
Bluffton went on to finish 10-16 overall and 3-11 in the HCAC, while Anderson finished
15-11 overall and 7-7 in the HCAC.

Bluffton leadersMike Leimeister continues to lead the HCAC in scoring at 23.0 points per game, which
ranks 10th in the country, and his 8.2 rebounds per game ranks 2nd in the league.
Senior Derek DeNero (11.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) is the one other BC player averaging in double
figures, while senior Marcus Bixler (9.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg) ranks 2nd in the HCAC in assists
(4.3 apg) and 4th in free throw percentage (.810), steals (1.7 spg), 3-point percentage
(.443) and assist-to-turnover ration (1.43). Junior Brad Boyles (9.9 ppg) ranks 2nd
in the HCAC in field goal percentage (.610).

Anderson leadersThe Ravens are one of the more veteran squads in the HCAC, as well as one of the more
balanced. Their top three scorers are all within one point of each other and rank
13th, 14th, and 15th in the league in scoring. That trio consists of senior Gaga Ghebremichael
(13.3 ppg, 3.0 apg), junior Paul Wright (12.7 ppg) and senior Erik Chapman (12.3 ppg).

3-point streak continuesBluffton has made at least one 3-point field goal in 262 consecutive games. The last
time BC didn't make a 3-pointer was Jan. 6, 1993 when BC was 0-1 from behind the arc
against Adrian in Founders Hall but won anyway 64-57.

Record in Founders HallBluffton is now 288-265 (.521) in Founders Hall since the facility opened in 1952.
BC is 63-47 (.573) in Founders Hall since the start of the 1993-94 season.

Statistical comparisonsTwo key statistics will have a big part in determining tonight's winner. The first
is turnovers. Anderson leads the HCAC in steals (11.3 spg) and turnover margin (+6.3)
and has used that specific edge to defeat Bluffton the last three times these two
teams have met. The other key stat will be who shoots the 3-pointer better. The Ravens
lead the HCAC in 3-point attempts (25.4 att/g) and are 2nd in makes (9.0 m/g), but
their .352 percentage is 7th. Bluffton is more selective about their trey attempts,
which has led to the Beavers owning a sparkling .390 percentage from beyond the arc,
which leads the HCAC. In fact, Bluffton is shooting .513 (58-for-113) from beyond
the arc in its last seven games. When it comes to defending against the 3-pointer,
AU ranks 2nd in the HCAC (.331), while BC ranks 5th (.348).